System and method for non-intrusive health monitoring in the home

ABSTRACT

A hand-held device, such as a remote control, is provided for operation of a consumer appliance and is equipped with one or more biometric sensors to capture and report on the health condition of a user of the hand-held device. The data captured by such a hand-held device may be evaluated locally in the hand-held device itself or may be conveyed to a target consumer appliance either for local evaluation by that consumer appliance or for onward transmission to a central off-site monitoring service.

RELATED APPLICATION INFORMATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. application Ser. No.14/531,366, filed on Nov. 3, 2014, which application claims the benefitof and is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/956,444, filedon Nov. 30, 2010, which applications are incorporated herein byreference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

Various methods have previously been proposed to provide non-invasive,preferably home-based, monitoring of health conditions such as bloodpressure, temperature, pulse rate, blood sugar, etc. For example, U.S.Published Patent Application No. 2007/0249916 describes a wearableapparatus for continuous non-invasive monitoring of a patient's bloodglucose level. Japanese laid-open Patent Application No. JP 2005-241181describes a remote control apparatus for an air conditioner whichincorporates a skin moisture sensor. U.S. Pat. No. 7,423,526 and U.S.Published Patent Application No. 2009/0322513 both describe wearablebracelet-type devices incorporating various physiological monitoringtechnologies. Furthermore, wearable devices for use either in a hospitalor in a home environment and capable of wirelessly reporting and/oralarming various physiological parameters to a central monitoringlocation have been previously described in the art, for example as maybe found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,382,247, 7,315,736, 7,261,691, or6,731,962. These health monitoring solutions typically require some typeof specialized sensing apparatus in the form of a wearable bracelet,etc., together with a separate purpose-specific unit to receive andrelay the wireless reporting signals.

Controlling devices, for example remote controls, for use in issuingcommands to entertainment and other appliances, and the features andfunctionality provided by such controlling devices are well known in theart and have become a ubiquitous part of the modern home for use inconjunction with various appliances such as cable set top boxes,satellite receivers, etc. Such controlling devices may be universal,that is, capable of controlling multiple appliance types of differentmanufacture, unified, that is, capable of controlling multiple appliancetypes of the same manufacture, or dedicated, that is, capable only ofcontrolling a single appliance of a specific manufacture. Descriptionsof such controlling devices may be found, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos.4,959,810, 5,455,570, 7,046,185, or 7,154,428.

A synergistic combination of these two functionalities is proposedherein.

SUMMARY

In an order to facilitate a health monitoring service offered inconjunction with a consumer appliance, such as an interactive cable orsatellite set top box (“STB”), an Internet connected TV, an add-on mediaconsolidation device (for example as currently offered as the Logitech“Revue,” D-Link “Boxee” Box, Western Digital “TV Live”), etc., anexemplary hand-held device such as a remote control provided foroperation of the consumer appliance may be equipped with variousbiometric sensors to capture and report on the health condition of theuser of the hand-held device. The data captured by such a hand-helddevice may be evaluated locally in the hand-held device itself or may beconveyed to a target consumer appliance either for local evaluation bythat consumer appliance or for onward transmission to a central off-sitemonitoring service. Alternatively, where the hand-held device itself iscapable of wide area communication (for example is WiFi equipped), thecaptured information may be directly conveyed to an off-site monitoringservice. If one or more of the measured health parameters falls outsidethe normal range, various actions may be taken either by the localhand-held device/consumer appliance or by the off-site monitoringservice. Such actions may range in scope from presenting a warningsignal/message through raising a local alarm to automatic dispatch ofemergency personnel.

A better understanding of the objects, advantages, features, propertiesand relationships of the subject system and method will be obtained fromthe following detailed description and accompanying drawings which setforth illustrative embodiments and which are indicative of the variousways in which the principles of the subject system and method may beemployed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the various aspects of the subject systemand method, reference may be had to preferred embodiments shown in theattached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system in which an exemplary controllingdevice according to the instant invention may be used;

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of exemplary components of theexemplary controlling device of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate the exemplary controlling device of FIG. 1 ingreater detail;

FIG. 5 illustrates in flowchart form an exemplary series of steps whichmay be performed by the operating software controlling device of FIGS. 1and 2 to capture and report a user's biometric data;

FIG. 6 illustrates in flowchart form an exemplary method for monitoringa user's health status based upon biometric data provided by thecontrolling device of FIGS. 1 and 2; and

FIG. 7 illustrates an alternative system embodiment in which healthstatus monitoring and reporting via a consumer appliance such as a STBmay be implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Turning now to FIG. 1, there is illustrated an exemplary system in whicha controlling device 100 is configured to control various controllableappliances, such as, for example, a television 102 and a set top box(“STB”) 104. As is known in the art, the controlling device 100 may becapable of transmitting commands to the appliances in response to useractivation of various command function keys using any convenient IR, RF,Point-to-Point, or networked protocol, to cause the appliances toperform operational functions. While illustrated in the context of atelevision 102 and STB 104, it is to be understood that controllableappliances may include, but need not be limited to, televisions, VCRs,DVRs, DVD players, cable or satellite converter set-top boxes (“STBs”),amplifiers, CD players, game consoles, home lighting, drapery, fans,HVAC systems, thermostats, personal computers, etc. As is also known inthe art, controlling device 100 may also include means for use inconfiguring the operation of controlling device 100, e.g., changingoperational modes, selecting active key sets, etc. In a particularillustrative embodiment, in addition to this conventional functionality,controlling device 100 may further include means for monitoring certainbiomedical parameters representative of the health status of a user ofthe controlling device 100, and in the embodiment illustrated, reportingsuch data to an exemplary STB 104 or like consumer appliance for onwardtransmission to a monitoring center service 110 (e.g., having a server,data repository, and appropriate programming/instructions) via a cablesystem headend 106 (e.g., having a server, data repository, andappropriate programming/instructions) and an Internet, PSTN, or otherconnection 108. As will be appreciated, in some embodiments, the rawdata collected by controlling device 100 may be simply forwardeddirectly to monitoring service center 110 for evaluation and recording,while in other embodiments the data may be subjected to an initialevaluation locally within the controlling device itself or within STB104 in order to ascertain the presence and if present, the severity ofany out-of-range, health related data values. In such embodiments, theinitial evaluation may then determine an action to be taken, ranging,for example, from repeating a test, through displaying a warning messageon or by TV 102, to reporting an emergency situation to monitoringcenter 110. In such embodiments, all collected data may however still bereported to monitoring service center 110 on a lower priority orperiodic basis regardless, for patient history recording purposes. Othervariations of such a tiered response system are also possible, forexample, evaluation of captured health related data values may beperformed at an intermediate site such as cable system headend 106. Inyet further embodiments, a controlling device equipped with for exampleWiFi or Bluetooth capability may report collected health related datadirectly to a monitoring service center 110 or to another local devicesuch as a for example a PC for onward transmission to the monitoringservice center 110.

With reference to FIG. 2, for use in commanding the functionaloperations of one or more appliances, the controlling device 100 mayinclude, as needed for a particular application, a processor 200 coupledto a ROM memory 206, a RAM memory 208, a non-volatile read/write memory204, a key matrix 220 (e.g., hard keys, soft keys such as a touchsensitive surface overlaid on a liquid crystal (LCD), and/or anelectroluminescent (EL) display), transmission circuit(s) and/ortransceiver circuit(s) 202 (e.g., IR and/or RF), a means 218 to providefeedback to the user (e.g., one or more LEDs, LCD, speaker, and/or thelike), an input/output port 216 such as a serial interface, USB port,modem, Zigbee, WiFi, or Bluetooth transceiver, etc., a power source 222,and clock and timer logic 210 with associated crystal or resonator 212.Controlling device 100 may further include means 214 to detect thatdevice 100 has been picked up and/or is being held by a user, forexample a capacitance sensor, tilt switch, accelerometer, etc., and, inaccordance with the subject system, various biometric sensors 224 a, 224b, 224 c capable of measuring, for example, one or more of pulse rate,skin temperature, skin moisture, blood glucose, hemoglobin oxygenation,etc., without limitation.

As will be understood by those skilled in the art, some or all of thememories 204, 206, 208 may include executable instructions(collectively, the controlling device program memory) that are intendedto be executed by the processor 200 to control the operation of thedevice 100, as well as data which serves to define to the operationalsoftware the necessary control protocols and command values for use intransmitting command signals to controllable appliances (collectively,the command data). In this manner, the processor 200 may be programmedto control the various electronic components within the controllingdevice 100, e.g., to monitor the key matrix 220, to cause thetransmission of signals, to enable power to and retrieve data frombiometric sensors 224 a/b/c, etc. The non-volatile read/write memory204, for example an EEPROM, battery-backed up RAM, FLASH, Smart Card,memory stick, or the like, may additionally be provided to store setupinformation, data, and parameters as necessary. While the memory 206 isillustrated and described as a ROM memory, memory 206 can also becomprised of any type of readable media, such as ROM, FLASH, EEPROM, orthe like. Preferably, the memories 204 and 208 are non-volatile orbattery-backed such that data is not required to be reloaded afterbattery changes. In addition, the memories 204, 206 and 208 may take theform of a chip, a hard disk, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, and/orthe like. Still further, it will be appreciated that some or all of theillustrated memory devices may be physically combined (for example, asingle FLASH memory may be logically partitioned into different portionsto support the functionality of memories 204 and 206 respectively),and/or may be physically incorporated within the same IC chip as themicroprocessor 200 (a so called “microcontroller”) and, as such, theyare shown separately in FIG. 2 only for the sake of clarity.

To cause the controlling device 100 to perform an action, thecontrolling device 100 is adapted to be responsive to events, such as asensed user interaction with the key matrix 220, etc. In response to anevent, appropriate instructions within the program memory (hereafter the“controlling device operating program”) may be executed. For example,when a function key is actuated on the controlling device 100, thecontrolling device 100 may retrieve from the command data stored inmemory 204, 206, 208 a command value and control protocol correspondingto the actuated function key and, where necessary, the current devicemode and transmit a command to an intended target appliance, e.g., TV102, in a format recognizable by that appliance to thereby control oneor more functional operations of that appliance. It will be appreciatedthat the operating program can be used not only to cause thetransmission of commands and/or data to the appliances, but also toperform local operations. While not limiting, local operations that maybe performed by the controlling device 100 may include displayinginformation/data, favorite channel setup, macro key setup, function keyrelocation, etc. Examples of local operations can be found in U.S. Pat.Nos. 5,481,256, 5,959,751, and 6,014,092. In addition, as describedhereafter, local operations may include the activation, and monitoringof various biometric sensors, coupled with analysis and/or reporting ofthe data values obtained thereby.

In some embodiments, controlling device 100 may be universal, i.e.,provided with a preprogrammed and/or downloaded library of appliancecommand data sets corresponding to appliances of different make, and/ormodel, and/or type thereby enabling a user to configure controllingdevice 100 to issue commands in a format recognizable by his particularappliances. Since such techniques and the methods by which a user mayidentify each intended target appliance to controlling device 100 arewell known in the art, these will not be discussed further herein.Nevertheless, for additional information pertaining to setup procedures,the reader may turn, for example, to U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,959,810,5,614,906, or 6,225,938 or to pending U.S. patent application Ser. Nos.09/615,473 or 12/716,365 all of like assignee and all incorporatedherein by reference in their entirety.

As illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, biometric sensors 224 a, 224 b and 224c may be positioned on the outer case or housing of controlling device100, arranged such that they may come into contact with the hand 300 ofa user when controlling device 100 is grasped in the usual manner ofoperation. It will be appreciated that although the placement of sensors224 a and 224 b of the illustrative embodiment of FIGS. 3 and 4 isoptimum for a right-handed user, in other embodiments left-handed usersmay be equally accommodated, for example by duplicating sensors on bothsides of the controlling device, by locating a single set of sensorscentrally on the underside of the controlling device 100, by providingseparate left- and right-handed version of the controlling device 100,etc. Further, in those embodiments where the sensing technology to beused requires access to both sides of a hand or a hand part such as afinger, for example pulse oximetry or non-invasive blood glucosemeasurement techniques as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,028,787 or4,621,643, the housing of controlling device 100 may comprise an elementarranged so as to encompass the desired body part when the controllingdevice is in the grasp of a user. By way of example, the underside ofthe illustrative controlling device 100 of FIG. 4 may comprise acantilevered element 402 positioned such that during normal operation auser's finger(s) may be positioned between two constituent parts ofbiometric sensor 224 c. It will be appreciated that such a cantileveredelement may be fixed, flexible, hinged at the base and/or spring loaded,etc. as appropriate. In a like manner, in alternate embodiments thehousing of a controlling device may a recess, opening, socket, or othersuitable element into which a user's finger may be inserted to therebyposition the user's finger between two constituent parts of a biometricsensor.

An exemplary controlling device 100 may utilize biometric sensors suchas 224 a, 224 b, 224 c in support of a health monitoring service as willnow be described in conjunction with the flowchart of FIG. 5. At step500 a biometric data capture routine within the controlling device 100operating program may be activated by one or more of a user picking upthe controlling device, i.e., in response to an input from handlingdetection means 214; by user activation of an element of key matrix 220either in the normal course of commanding the operation a controlledappliance or via a key 304 provided specifically for that purpose; byexpiry of a timer; by receipt of a communication from a healthmonitoring application installed in or communicating through a targetappliance, e.g., STB 104; etc., all as appropriate for a particularembodiment. Upon activation, at step 502 the controlling deviceoperating program may first ascertain the elapsed time since theprevious measurement cycle. If this time is less than a specifiedminimum interval (which interval may be predetermined, user adjustable,communicated from a target appliance such as STB 104, etc.) then nomeasurement is currently due and the controlling device operatingprogram may exit the biometric data capture routine at step 530. In thismanner, the battery life of controlling device 100 may be conserved andthe reporting path 104, 106, 108 not overloaded with data. In someembodiments the test of step 502 may however be omitted, for example,where the activation is in response to a request communicated from atarget appliance on behalf of a health monitoring application which isitself responsible for determining the measurement interval or inresponse to a user input provided to the controlling device 100 thatindicates an affirmative desire to capture such data.

If it is determined that a biometric measurement cycle is due, at step504 the controlling device 100 operating program may enable exemplarybiometric sensors 224 a, 224 b, and 224 c and then at steps 508/506 maywait a suitable period of time for the sensors to stabilize and producevalid readings. Once valid data is detected from biometric sensors 224a, 224 b and/or 224 c, at steps 510 and 512 this data is captured andtransmitted to a consumer appliance that is specified to receive thebiometric monitoring data, e.g., STB 104. In the case of a universalcontrolling device 100, such captured data would be transmitted to theconsumer appliance via selection and use of an appropriate protocol bythe controlling device 100. If no valid readings are detected within theallotted time interval, the data capture cycle may be abandoned and atsteps 514, 516 an error may be signaled to the user, e.g., via userfeedback means 218, and an error message transmitted to the receivingappliance. Upon either completion or abandonment of the data capturecycle, at steps 522 and 524/518 the controlling device 100 operatingprogram may disable exemplary biometric sensors 224 a, 224 b, and 224 cand thereafter wait for a response from the receiving appliance. If noresponse is received within the allotted time interval, at step 520 anerror is signaled to the user, e.g., via user feedback means 218 andprocessing continues at step 528 as will be further described hereafter.When a response is obtained from the receiving appliance, at step 526the controlling device operating program may determine if the responsecomprises a request for a repeat measurement. By way of explanation, inthe exemplary system illustrated in FIG. 1, such a request may be issuedfor example by a receiving appliance such as STB 104 in response to a“invalid reading” error message (step 516) from controlling device 100,in conjunction with display by STB 104 of a message on the screen of TV102 requesting that the user reposition his grasp of controlling device100. In other instances such a request for an immediate repeat readingmay be issued by a monitoring algorithm resident in STB 104, cablesystem headend 106, or monitoring service center 110 following receiptof biometric data indicative of a possibly critical condition of theuser of controlling device 100. If such a repeat request is received,the controlling device 100 operating program may resume the biometricmeasurement sequence at step 504 as illustrated. If no repeat isrequested, at step 528 the controlling device 100 operating program mayreset the minimum interval time to be used in a future step 502, afterwhich processing is complete. It will be appreciated that the minimuminterval time used in step 528 may comprise a predetermined fixed value,may be user adjustable, may be determined by the receiving appliance andembedded in the response of step 524, etc.

FIG. 6 presents an exemplary method for implementing a health monitoringsystem and service utilizing the output of a biometric sensor equippedcontrolling device 100. In reviewing this figure it should beappreciated that the individual steps of the method may be performed atany of various physical locations or tiers of the system as convenientfor a particular implementation. For example, in the case of theillustrative system of FIG. 1 some or all of the steps of the method maybe performed at any of cable STB 104, cable headend 106, centralmonitoring site 110, etc., as appropriate for the specificimplementation selected by the provider of the service. Accordingly, inthe description that follows any mention of a particular location forperformance of a step is intended to be exemplary and not limiting.

Upon receipt of a transmission from a biometric sensor equipped devicesuch as exemplary controlling device 100, at step 602 the method mayinitially determine if the transmitted message comprises an “invalidreading” status. If so, at step 604 it may next be determined if thisreport has reached a limit established for repeated attempts to correctongoing measurement failures. If not, at step 606 a corrective messagemay be conveyed to a user of the controlling device 100, for example aprompt displayed on or by TV 102 requesting that a user adjust theirgrasp of controlling device 100, followed at step 608 by a request tothe controlling device 100 to repeat the measurement attempt. If,however, the limit for such actions has been reached without success,then at step 610 an alert and notification of measurement failure mayissued to an operator located at a centralized monitoring servicecenter, e.g. 110 of FIG. 1.

If a received message from a biometric sensor equipped device isdetermined to comprise valid data, at step 612 it is next determined ifthe message comprises a signal that an emergency alert (“panic button”),e.g. key 404 of exemplary controlling device 100, has been activated bya user. If so, at step 630 an alarm may immediately be raised atmonitoring service center 110. If not, at step 614 the received data maynext be logged at monitoring service center 110 for patient historyrecording purposes. Next, at step 616 it is determined if the receivedbiometric data values fall within a normal range. As will be appreciatedthe system and methods described herein may readily be adapted tosupport health monitoring services for multiple individuals at the samelocation, for example by the provision of multiple addressablesensor-equipped controlling devices, by use of one or more of thebiometric measurements as a means to distinguish between users, etc.Accordingly, in certain embodiments this normal range of values may beindividually established for each particular user of a biometric sensorequipped device. In such embodiments multiple users of a single deviceor single reporting channel may be identified via the use of biometricmeasurements, individualized devices, explicit user input to identifyeach individual user, etc. In this regard see for example U.S. Pat. Nos.6,906,696, 7,236,156 or 7,266,701 all of which are incorporated hereinby reference in their entirety.

If the received biometric data is within normal range(s), then at step618 the measurement repetition interval is set to its standard value(which interval may be determined on an individual user basis and/or maybe dependent on the specific type(s) of biometric values beingmonitored) and an acknowledgement response issued to the controllingdevice 100. It will be appreciated that in the case of a controllingdevice 100 which directly measures repetition intervals, as contemplatedfor example by step 528 of FIG. 5, the acknowledgement response mayincorporate a parameter to indicate this interval. Alternatively, thedesired interval may be timed elsewhere, e.g. at STB 104, cable head end106 or monitoring service center 110 and explicit request(s) issued tothe monitoring controlling device 100 as appropriate.

If it is determined that the received biometric data values fall outsidea normal range, then at step 620 of the exemplary method, it is nextdetermined if the data values fall within a precautionary range. Suchprecautionary range(s) may be established for various biometricparameters and may trigger enhanced monitoring services, for exampleconveying a warning message to the user and/or a monitoring centeroperator together with an increased frequency of measurement, asillustrated at steps 622 and 624. Once again, such ranges may beindividually established for each user of the service.

If however, one or more of the received biometric data values fallsoutside the established precautionary range a critical condition mayexist. In the exemplary method illustrated, in order to prevent falsealarms such an out of range value may trigger an immediate request tothe biometric measuring device to repeat the measurement as illustratedat step 628. If the second measurement remains out of range, a majoralarm may be raised at the monitoring service center as illustrated atsteps 626 and 630. It will however be appreciated that in otherembodiments a critically out of range measurement may trigger animmediate alarm at a monitoring center, leaving the decision to repeatthe measurement in the hands of the monitoring service operator.

While various concepts have been described in detail, it will beappreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications andalternatives to those concepts could be developed in light of theoverall teachings of the disclosure. For example, while one embodimentpresented herein is described in terms of an exemplary hand-heldcontrolling device intended for use in conjunction with a consumerappliance such as TV or STB, it will be appreciated that a similarfunctionality may be offered in other portable devices, for example aremote control intended for use with a home security system, withoutdeparting from the spirit of this invention. In an exemplary alternativeembodiment which is illustrated in FIG. 7, a wearable device such as abracelet 700 may comprise biometric sensors and associated circuitry andprogramming similar to that described above in connection with thebiometric monitor portions of exemplary controlling device 100. Bracelet700 may be offered in conjunction with a health monitoring service suchas described above in connection with FIG. 6, either in place of or as asupplement to a biometric sensor enabled controlling device.Alternatively, in some embodiments biometric sensors may comprise partof a wrist strap or safety retaining tether provided in conjunction witha controlling device, such as for example a Nintendo brand Wiicontroller.

Further, while described in the context of functional modules andillustrated using block diagram format, it is to be understood that,unless otherwise stated to the contrary, one or more of the describedfunctions and/or features may be integrated in a single physical deviceand/or a software module, or one or more functions and/or features maybe implemented in separate physical devices or software modules. It willalso be appreciated that a detailed discussion of the actualimplementation of each module is not necessary for an enablingunderstanding of the invention. Rather, the actual implementation ofsuch modules would be well within the routine skill of an engineer,given the disclosure herein of the attributes, functionality, andinter-relationship of the various functional modules in the system.Therefore, a person skilled in the art, applying ordinary skill, will beable to practice the invention set forth in the claims without undueexperimentation. It will be additionally appreciated that the particularconcepts disclosed are meant to be illustrative only and not limiting asto the scope of the invention which is to be given the full breadth ofthe appended claims and any equivalents thereof.

All patents cited within this document are hereby incorporated byreference in their entirety.

What is claimed is:
 1. A health monitoring device, comprising: aprocessing device; a wireless receiver coupled to the processing device;a wireless transmitter coupled to the processing device; and at leastone biometric sensor coupled to the processing device; wherein, inresponse to the processing device receiving a second biometric datacapture routine activation signal subsequent to receiving a firstbiometric data capture routine activation signal, the processing devicefunctions to transition the at least one biometric sensor from adisabled state to an enabled state when a time interval betweenreceiving the second biometric data routine activation signal andreceiving the first biometric data capture routine signal exceeds a timeinterval specified by data within a signal received by a further devicein communication with the health monitoring device via use of thewireless receiver and to cause a signal having data indicative of abiometric measurement taken by the at least one biometric sensor whilstthe at least one biometric sensor is enabled to be transmitted back tothe further device via use of the wireless transmitter.
 2. The healthmonitoring device as recited in claim 1, further comprising an outputdevice coupled to the processing device wherein the processing devicecauses the output device to present information to a user related to thebiometric measurement taken by the at least one biometric sensor whilstthe at least one biometric sensor is enabled.
 3. The health monitoringdevice as recited in claim 1, wherein the health monitoring devicecomprises a housing having a first housing element and a second housingelement between which a finger of a user is to be inserted as the userholds the health monitoring device and wherein constituent parts of theat least one biometric sensor are located on each of the first housingelement and the second housing element.
 4. The health monitoring deviceas recited in claim 3, wherein one of the first housing element and thesecond housing element comprises a cantilevered element associated withthe housing.
 5. The health monitoring device as recited in claim 4,wherein the cantilevered element is located on a bottom side of thehousing and wherein a top side of the housing opposite the bottom sideof the housing carries a user interface which is coupled to theprocessing device.
 6. The health monitoring device as recited in claim1, wherein the wireless receiver comprises a radio frequency receiver.7. The health monitoring device as recited in claim 1, wherein thewireless receiver comprises an infrared receiver.
 8. The healthmonitoring device as recited in claim 1, wherein the wirelesstransmitter comprises a radio frequency transmitter.
 9. The healthmonitoring device as recited in claim 1, wherein the wirelesstransmitter comprises an infrared transmitter.
 10. The health monitoringdevice as recited in claim 1, further comprising a panic buttonactivatable to cause the processing device to issue an emergency alertcommunication via the wireless transmitter to the further device. 11.The health monitoring device as recited in claim 1, wherein the healthmonitoring device comprises a remote control and the further devicecomprises a home entertainment device controllable via use of the remotecontrol.
 12. The health monitoring device as recited in claim 1, whereinthe processing device causes that at least one biometric sensor to betransitioned from the enabled state back to the disabled state prior toan expiration of a predetermined enablement time interval in response tothe processing device determining that the signal having data indicativeof the biometric measurement taken by the at least one biometric sensorwhilst the at least one biometric sensor is enabled was transmitted backto the further device via use of the wireless transmitter.
 13. Thehealth monitoring device as recited in claim 1, wherein the processingdevice causes an error message to be signaled in response to theprocessing device determining that the health monitoring device wasunable to transmit back to the home entertainment device via use of thewireless transmitter the signal having data indicative of the biometricmeasurement taken by the at least one biometric sensor whilst the atleast one biometric sensor is enabled.
 14. The health monitoring deviceas recited in claim 1, wherein the second biometric data capture routineactivation signal is received from the further device.
 15. The healthmonitoring device as recited in claim 1, wherein the second biometricdata capture routing activation signal is received via an activation ofan input element associated with the health monitoring device.